‘Good Shot.’
Don’t say this to your opponent! Well, perhaps you can say it, sometimes, but it should not be your first instinct. The key point is to be aware of where your opponent hit this winner from!
Hashim Khan, who won seven British Open titles between 1951-56 and 58 is often referred to as the ‘father of the modern game’. I once approached him, with a little trepidation, at the British Open and one of the questions I asked him was ‘do you have any advice for the club player’. He was ready for me and opened up.
It was a classic reply in his succinct English and I just pick one part of it here.
“… Any time your opponent plays good shot there must be reason – you have given him chance to play good shot. Don’t do same thing. Don’t do again. This game like chess. Think, footwork, handwork, eyes. All the time think more. Know your opponent’s weaknesses, why you make errors, why you don’t reach in time, why you don’t hit in time – there must be reason. Think more. Thinking is very important in this game.”
Let’s repeat it again then; don’t say ‘Good Shot’ as if it is some outstanding and miraculous action you had no control over.
You presented your opponent with the opportunity – perhaps it was a loose or short ball or a ball played into an area where your opponent is particularly strong; perhaps they were tactical errors - but their ‘Good Shot’ was a result of your poor shot.
I know this is easily said and not so easy in the ‘fog of war’.
Hashim however is saying you must think as you play. He is also saying you must think after a game. We could call this the debrief. You will learn more from your loses than wins.
How can you know where, in what areas, you gave your opponent opportunities? You have your memory, you can have someone take notes during the match, but now you have something Hashim Khan did not – video, which is available to everyone.
One standard analytic technique is called notation, were you record each shot of a rally in turn; or in football each kick. If we call the number of shots in a rally N, then what we are interested in here is N-1 on your opponent’s winners.
So we are saying in your matches your opponent’s winners are not just a random set of good shots but opportunities you have given them. Learn (in play and after play) and you will become a better player.
Let’s take a very obvious example. Your opponent hits 20 winners in a match, 15 are forehand drops, and 12 are off boasts. So we must look at your propensity to give these opportunities.
The issue maybe technical. Perhaps it is a difficulty straightening the ball from the back left (backhand) corner, perhaps off excellent penetrating crosscourt drives from an opponent. This issue can be repaired with practice (and perhaps some coaching).
The problem could also be tactical.
The first issue is analysis, then remediation, then adjustment to the game plan.
Basically in analysis we are looking for patterns. Where do you make mistakes? Where do you play loose balls? Where does your opponent score points?
Let’s take another example. In the previous issue of Squash Player we analysed the 1,318 shot British Open final, where Diego Elias hit more winners, 20 to Ali Farag’s 17, but still lost the match.
Crosscourt Analytics’ data showed that 38.5 % of Elias’s winners (and errors forced) where hit from the right (forehand) mid-court. The point is Farag hit the ball here. So this is a key area to investigate.
We see that Farag hit half of his 179 volleys crosscourt. So this is a key point to consider. He can go through the video, or his advisers can and as Crosscourt Analytics have told me, the majority of these winners by Elias were hit off crosscourts. We are looking at fine margins here but we see Farag won 40 points in the final to Elias’s 39.
There is a lot going on in matchplay. However you must be aware of where your opponent is scoring and take action. Don’t hit the ball there, and if you do provide an opportunity, take emergency action to cover (retrieve) your opponent’s attack - move early.
As Hashim Khan says: ‘Think. Any time your opponent plays good shot there must be reason – you have given him chance to play a good shot. Don’t do same thing. Don’t do again.’
Note: Thank you to crosscourtanalytics.com for providing data.
